Ironing machine



0m. 18, 1932. ASHE'R 1,883,750

IRONING MACHINE Filed March '7, 1950 4' Sheets-Sheet 1 W. J. ASHERIRONING MACHINE Oct. 18, 1932.

Filed March 7. 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwwntop MMMyM Oct. 18, 1932. w. J.ASHER 1,883,750

IRONING MACHINE Filed March 7. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/m I I Patented Oct. 18 1932 l r i UNITED STATES PATENT eF 1;

Application filed March 7, 1930. Serial No. 434,113.

The present invention relates to ironing the efficiency of the machine,permitting it to machines and particularly to ironing mavbe operated atgreater speeds and with fewer chines of the two rotary drum typedesigned shutdowns, and eliminating the possibility and intended for thecontinuous ironing of of injury to or destructionof the articlesbearticles of large size, such as sheets, blankets, ing ironed. V .7 55and the like, as well as the general run of i i The invention may beembodied in maarticles of smaller size customarily handled chines havingwidely difierent arrangements by laundries, of rollers and aprons andmay be specifical- In my copending application, Serial 341,- ly modifiedin each instance to suit operat- 7 1 10 510, filed February 20, 1929, isdisclosed an mg conditions, wlthout departure from its 60 ironingmachine of the two drum type and plrlt and SCOPe. In the accompanying Yprovided with two aprons,uone associated drawings one's'uch embodimentis set forth with each drum, each apron serving primariby way ofexample. ly to hold an article of work in contact with In he rawings:

' the cylindrical surface of the associated heat- Figure 1 1S a ratherdiagrammatic g 5 7 ed drum as the drum rotates, and the aprons tudinalsection through the complete ironacting in conjunction with eachother in.efg mach ne, showing the arrangement of fecting the transfer ofarticles which have p qns n d ms; 7 been acted upon by the first drum,upon one F1gure 2.1s a side elevatlon of one end of side, to the seconddrum here, they are ac't- 'the IIHLChlIle, ,&t'Wl11Cl1 end thereof thepresed up by theheated drum surface, upon the 81113 P V n are In rp ratopposite side. To conduct large articles, Flgure a p P e Of i end suchas sheets, blankets, and the like, from of h I11a 3ll ll16 p tly enaway; one drum to the other, the aprons are conig 4 2L SectlOn OH 11116H of Fig, 3; strained to move in parallel, closely adjag r 5 1S aSection 011 line O ig- 76 cent paths from a point above the first drum dto a point adjacent the second drum, the arg l e 6 1S a fi Qn 011 1 1Il6-6 of gticles being transferred being held between III y p dl gflPPhCatiOII abOve the two aprons in uch manner that they are ferred to,the details of the machine il'liits elldelivered to the second drumentirely fiat and tlrsty a described and illustrated- InaS- so withoutWrinkles. At a point adjacent the m i th COHS't-IHCtiOII an Operation-ofsecond drum, the aprons are separated, the t e 1 7 p 0 f these d ailshave/.110 second apron immediately passing around earing npon thepresent invention, .a dethe co d dru nd th fi t ap b i taileddescrlption thereof need not here be '3 continuously backed to the firstdrum, Set forth. All pOrtiOns 0f the machine Which v Heretofore certaindifficulties have been met a ep n nt t0 hepresent invention, hOW- within effecting the dislodgement of articles r, Will be fully described. ofwork from the first apronat the point of Th ironing machine includes aframe separation of the two aprons and the deposiwhich supports thevarious operating parts, a9 tion of such articles in proper ositi n onthis frame comprising essentially two paral- 9o the, second apron to be,carried around the lel side members indicated, respectively, at secondcylinder, certain articles of light 10 and 11, Which side membersaresubstanweight tending to adhere to the first apron tially, identicalin form and are rigidly se- 7 and to be thrown to the floor or entangledin cured to a base 12. Supported in the frame 145 the moving parts ofthe machine. i are two drums l3 and 14, respectively, these 95 Thepresent invention relates to means. for drums being mounted to rotateabout parelfecting' the dislodgment of articles which allel axes andbeingjspaced somewhat apart t d t li 0.1 1 fi t a ron a d f 15- V as,shownin Figure 1. Associated with the fecting the deposition of sucharticles onto drum 13, which is hereinafter designatedthe 7 thesecondapron, thereby "greatly increasing first drum for the reason thatthe articles fed me I into the machine first make contact therewith, isan apron 15, which is endless and the width of which is substantiallyequal to the width of the drum; Associated with the second drum 14 is asecond apron 16, also endless and having a width substantially the sameas that of the second drum. A series of pressure rollers 17 disposedcircumferentially of the first drum insures tight contact of the firstapron with the surface of the drum, and a second series of pressurerollers 18 performs the same function with respect to the second I drumand second apron.

The construction and function of these pressure rollers are well knownin the art.

Additional guide rollers are provided for guiding the two aprons alongthe paths outlined in Figure 1 of the drawings, and in the operation ofthe machine the drum or cylinders are rotated in the directions of thearrows A and B, respectively, moving in opposite directions about theiraxes. Each apron moves with its associated drum preferably at a veryslightly greater speed than the speed limit of such drum. The aprons arebrought together at a point above the first drum, indicated generally at19 in the draw ings, and pass in close parallel relationship diagonallydownward to a point below the second drum, thence upwardly to a guideroller 20. After passing around this guide roller and while traveling inthe general direction of the second drum 1 1, the aprons are separated,the point of separation being approximately indicated by the numeral 21,the

two aprons following, respectively, straight diverging paths for shortdistances, as can be clearly seen from an inspection of Figure A.Finally, the second apron passes over the adjacent pressure roller 18and passes around the second drum, and the first apron passes over asmaller guide roller 22 and thence in a direction away from the seconddrum 14 and finally back to the first drum 13.

From the point 19, when the aprons come together, to the point 21, whichis the point of separation, the work is tightly engaged on oppositesides by both aprons and is transported in a wrinkle-free condition bythe conjoint action of both aprons. Upon reaching the point ofseparation 21 of the two aprons, however, it is essential that the workpromptly dislodge itself from the first apron and deposit itself on thesecond so that it may be passed around the second drum by the action ofthe second apron without possibil- "ity of the formation of wrinklestherein. I

have found that, by causing the first and' second apronsto move alongonly slightly divergent paths for considerable distances after passingthe point of separation of the aprons, and by so arranging the apronguiding means that these paths are more horizontal than vertical, theleading edge of each 7 article of'work has a'muchgreater tendency toseparate itself from the first apron and to fall onto the second in theproper manner than when other arrangements of aprons and guide rollersare resorted to. There is a considerable tendency of the work to adhereto the first apron inasmuch as it is passed around the first drum inclose and'intimate contact with the first apron and under a considerablepressure of the primary set of pressure rolls. In passing around theprimary drum under a considerable pressure, the various articles of worktend to become embedded in the fibrous apron, and, particularly withrespect to certain types of articles, this tendency is quite pronounced,leading to the dilficulties heretofore referred to. By directing theaprons after passing the point of separation in such manner thatgravitational force is allowed to the second.

In certain instances, however, it is found that, largely because of theclinging nature of the work, some additional means 1s necessary 7 toinsure dislodgment of the very light articles of work from the firstapron. As

such an additional safeguard, I provide a stream or series of jets ofcompressed air which are so directed as to strike the first aprontangentially as it rounds the guide roller 22 and to instantly dislodgeany article clinging to its surface. Preferably, I utilize a series ofparallel jets of compressed air which are caused to issue from spacedaligned ports in a tubular air conduit 31 which extends transversely ofthe machine, the axis of the conduit being parallel to the axis of theguide roll 22. The air jets are caused to impinge along substantiallytangential lines upon the first apron as it passes around the guide roll22 and to be deflected thereby, substantially as'indicated by the dottedlinesin Figure 4, so as to approach and strike the second apron lyingimmediately therebelow at substantially right angles. The jets of air,therefore, not only effect dislodgment of an article of work from thefirst apron but cause the same to flatten against the surface of thesecond.

After passing around the second drum 14, the various articles of workare removed from the surface of the drum by means of doting knives 34mounted upon a dofling bar 85 extending transversely of the machine andpositioned immediately below a guide roller 36. from the rotating drumare removed from the vicinity of the dofling knives by means of a systemof tapes indicated generally at T, and are carried by these tapes to afolding board. Occasionally here also, however,

certain articles of the work tend to cling to The articles of work thusstripped the second apron 16 as it passes around roller 36 instead ofdepositing themselves upon the moving tapes. To insure completedetachment of any such articles which have a tendency to cling, Iutilize at this point a second series of air streams or jets which issuein a downward direction from a serles of spaced parallel ports 37 in atubular air Air may be supplied under pressure to thetwo air manifolds31 and 38, by any suitable means. I have found it convenient to mount afan or blower 40 upon the frame member 10 of the machine and to conductthe air, which need only be under relatively slight pressure, verticallyupward to an uptake 41 laid into the inner side of the frame member 10or positioned in any suitable manner. Up-. take 41 has short lateralbranches indicated at 42 and 43, respectively, which' branches are incommunication with the adjacent ends of the two manifolds 31 and 38.Manifold 31 is secured permanently in the position in which it is shownin the drawings, with one end permanently attached to branch 42 ofuptake 41 (see Figure 6) and its other end suitablysupported by abracket 44 upon the other frame member 11 of the machine, that end ofthe manifold remote from uptake 41 being closed, as clearly shown inFigure 6.

It is essential, however, that the upper air manifold 38 be verticallyadjustable inasmuch as the guide roller 36 above which it is positionedmust be raised and lowered from time to time in the ordinary operationof the machine. Manifold 38 is therefore supported at its ends by arms46 and 47 which are rigid with revoluble shaft 48 and (BK-- tendradially therefrom. In raising and lowering roll 36, shaft 48 .isrotated by v means of a worm and worm-Wheel device 49 having anoperating hand wheel 50. The

end of manifold 38 adjacent frame member 11 is closed, as clearly shownin Figure 3, but that end thereof which is adjacent frame member 10 isopen and is normally in registration with a similar opening formed inbranch 43 of uptake 41 (see Figure The manifold, therefore, may befreely raised and lowered as shaft 48 is revolved in effectingadjustment of the roll 36, but, in every instance where the roll 36 isin its lowermost and operative position, the manifold 38. will beconnected to the source of 'air pressure.

. It will be apparent that the invention is in in. streams or jetsagainst the aprons at the desired points. I have found, however, inpractice that, by the application of air currents in substantially themanner described above and illustrated in the drawings, all

possibility of various articles of work clinging to the respectiveaprons past the points at which they meet with the streams of air iswholly obviated.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

In an ironing machine, in combination, a rotatable drum and an endlessapron associated therewith, a second rotatable drum and a second endlessapron associated therewith, guide means for said aprons, including aplurality of rollers,whereby each is caused to bear against itsassociated drum and over a substantial area of its cylindrical surface,said means also bringing the two aprons together at a point adjacent thefirst drum, guiding them in closely adjacent parallel paths to a pointadjacent the second drum and effecting the separation of the aprons atsuch point, the first apron returning to the first drum and the secondapron passing on to the second drum, the first apron overlying thesecond after being separated therefrom and passing upwardly around aroller of said guide means positioned above the second apron prior toreturning to said first drum, and means positioned adjacent said rollerfor directing streams of air downwardly and tangentially against theapron moving upwardly around the same for dislodg ing any article ofwork tending to adhere to the first apron after said aprons areseparated, and forcing the same onto the second apron.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

WILLIAM J. ASHER.

nowise limited to any specific pneumatic

